Here is a description of Contextu via Richard Byrne's Free Technology For Teachers posting: Ken Halla, the blogger behind the US History Teachers Blog, has been working on an excellent new site for students of US History. The new site is called ContextU and its purpose is to help students see the greater context for significant events in history. The first iteration of ContextU is focused on the American Civil War.

On ContextU students select from a table of contents an event, piece of legislation, or theme to see it in the context of other events, pieces of legislation, and themes leading to the start of the Civil War. Through timelines, Google Maps, diagrams, flow charts, timelines, and text ContextU provides context for each chosen event, piece of legislation, or theme. Students can jump from event to event or from theme to theme by following the hyperlinks within each diagram.

History Happens is a collection of music videos about characters from American history. Our goal is to inform and inspire young people that an individual can make a difference--as evidenced by the many acts of courage, endurance and passion that make up the American story. These music videos can be used as a platform for all kinds of innovative, multi-disciplinary, project-based teaching/learning experiences. To learn more about our programs, please feel free to contact us by telephone or email.